Gloucester County College, Clearview Youth Wrestling set to help Sandy Hook Families

View full sizeIn Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012, photo, a shoe worn by New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz bears a message dedicated to 6-year-old Jack Pinto, one of the victims in last week's school shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., as Cruz warms up for the Giants' NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons in Atlanta. The Associated Press

Just a week after the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, Gloucester County College head wrestling coach Pete DiPol decided it was time for him to make a difference to help the affected families.

DiPol, along with Todd Palmisano and Maurice Worthy (assistant coaches at GCC), Clearview Youth Wrestling and South Jersey Wrestling, are running the first ever “A Wrestling Clinic in Memory of Jack Pinto - A young boy that loved Wrestling” event.

“I just wish I could hug the families,” said DiPol. “I wish I could make them feel better. I have a son seven years old. I can’t help to think about all of the families who lost a child, and for what? They went to school and got shot.”

DiPol was watching ESPN and saw an interview from Winthrop University men’s basketball head coach Pat Kelsey calling for change.

“The last thing I want to say is that I am really, really lucky,” Kelsey said after a 65-55 loss to Ohio State on Dec. 18. “I am going to get on an eight-hour bus ride. I am going to arrive in Rock Hill, South Carolina. I am going to walk into my house. I am going to walk up stairs. I am going to walk into two pink rooms, with a five-year-old and a four-year-old laying in that pink room, with a bunch of teddy bears laying in that room. I am going to give them the biggest hug and biggest kiss I have ever given them. And there are 20 families in Newport, Connecticut that are walking into a pink room with a bunch of teddy bears with nobody laying in those beds. And it’s tragic.”

That’s when DiPol knew he needed to do something.

“I have no way of reaching out to Jack’s parents, but I just wanted it to be a day to remember this little guy who loved wrestling so much,” added DiPol.

So DiPol began digging and saw an article on nj.com about a local wrestling team from Newport that traveled down to North Jersey that very Sunday, but was missing one member of its team, Jack Pinto. It really bothered DiPol because he has a son Jack’s age.

“It really hit home for me,” added DiPol. “I have a son that age. I take him to wrestling. I watch him wrestle. I can not imagine my life without him.”

The coach decided he wanted to help the wrestling team. He then took to social media, only to find out that there were already a lot of people helping the team, so DiPol kept digging. He found out that there was a fund set up for the parents. That’s when he made his decision to start the clinic and to choose that charity.

The idea to name it after Jack Pinto was because of Jack’s love for wrestling. DiPol was reading Pinto’s obituary and it said how much love Pinto had for the sport.

“It said he loved wrestling,” said DiPol. “I love wrestling. I wouldn’t be where I am today without wrestling. It really bothers me that the little guy won’t get to experience all the good from the sport. I want people to take time out and remember him and all the victims and their families.”

DiPol has reached out to local high school coaches to help with the clinic. He has heard responses from Mike Ahern from Haddon Heights, Billy Heverly from Haddonfield and Eric Mossop from Pennsauken.

The clinic is set to be held Wednesday, December 26, from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Clearview Junior Wrestling building located on Main Street in Mantua. DiPol is hoping for 50-100 people to attend. Wrestlers from ages 5-18 are invited to attend for $10 per person with all of the proceeds going to “My Sandy Hook Family Fund.”

DiPol has a 19-3 record while at GCC and is a two-time college coach of the year. DiPol also has a 225-67 mark as a high school coach at Edgewood, Schalick, Camden Catholic and Haddonfield. He was named high school coach of the year five times.

“With all the bad in this world, I wanted to get some good out of it all,” he said. “Maybe people will start stepping up to fix the problems we have in this world. It’s crazy things and it’s getting out of hand. Things need to change. I have two little kids and I want them to grow up. What the (heck) is going on in this world? We had the thing at the movies in July, and now this? You can’t go to the movies, you can’t go to school, you aren’t safe anywhere and I think it’s time that people woke up.”